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Movies / On DVD / Billy Liar
Billy Liar

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Billy Liar (1963)

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Reviews Counted: 9

Fresh: 9

Rotten:0

Average Rating: 7.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: BILLY LIAR was an immediate sensation as first a novel, then a hit play--both written by Keith Waterhouse, who also served as screenwriter on the film. Director John Schlesinger's screen version... BILLY LIAR was an immediate sensation as first a novel, then a hit play--both written by Keith Waterhouse, who also served as screenwriter on the film. Director John Schlesinger's screen version was a British landmark in the fertile cinema of the late 1950s and early '60s, and launched the career of Julie Christie, who plays Liz, one of Billy's flames. A young Englishman named Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay) dreams of escaping from his dull working-class family and his dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. In constant conflict with his parents and with the many women with whom he is romantically involved (he is engaged to two), Billy regularly escapes into a rich fantasy world. Sometimes he imagines himself to be the powerful dictator of a small country. In another fantasy, he wants to become the scriptwriter for a popular comedian on television. Unfortunately, he often blurs the line between fantasy and reality, which is exactly the reason that everybody calls him "Billy Liar." [More]

Starring: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Finlay Currie, Leonard Rossiter

Starring: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Finlay Currie, Leonard Rossiter, Mona Washbourne, Gwendolyn Watts, Wilfred Pickles, Rodney Bewes

Director: John Schlesinger

Director: John Schlesinger
Screenwriter: Keith Waterhouse

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Release:

Jul 10, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Billy Liar

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Even though it's a seminal movie of the sixties, it never reached me emotionally.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/18/09
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

... this portrait of ambition aching to break out of suffocating conformity and social expectation is viewed through the prism of fantasy and puckish humor...

Full Review Source: Turner Classic Movies Online | comment Comment
04/04/09
Sean Axmaker
Turner Classic Movies Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/22/08
Variety
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
08/17/07
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/14/07
BBC
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
08/11/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
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No review available.

comment Comment
07/18/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

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Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
08/29/04
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Brill.

comment Comment
02/04/04
Gregory Weinkauf
New Times

No review available.

comment Comment
10/04/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

a unique work in the British New Cinema movement

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
08/01/01
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
04/11/01
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

One of the great movies of the 1960's.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
A.O. Scott
New York Times
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